No Quid Pro Quo
Melissa and Steven Devlin "It's me, Steven," The man said to Melissa. "Your brother…?" Processing these words, she looked at him confused. "My brother?" The sound of giggling filled the air as the room was spinning. A voice she knew as Steven suddenly spoke, "Okay, I think that's enough, Mel, before you make us both sick." She realized her arms were around his neck as she was against his back. They were both quite small, around the age of ten. He had been twirling them around. She giggled, sliding off her brother's back. "Awe, Stevie. You poor-sport!" She pouted. Surprised at the flashback, she continued speaking. "I t-think I remember you a bit." "What?" Steven asked, looking towards Richard. "What does she mean?" "She is suffering from amnesia apparently," Richard replied. "What? What happened?" Steven looked back at Melissa. "What happened to me?" Melissa repeated the question.. "My friends. They're gone and it's partly my fault. If I had told Chris to remain with us, if I had fought Marshall instead of running, if I just stayed with Savannah…" At this moment, she began to cry, releasing all the stress she had been keeping in. Steven hugged Melissa tightly, and this time, she let him do such. "Don't worry, you're safe here. Just tell me everything that happened, okay? There's a chance your friends are fine. I can help you find them." She looked at him surprised. "You can?" Steven gave her a comforting smile. "Yeah, there is. I promise everything's going to be alright." ---- Melissa sat near a glass table in one of the corners of the laboratory's main hall with Steven across from her. As the two sat in silence, she watched Richard place two cups of hot chocolate on the table, one for herself and one for Steven. The man nodded to the two of them and left. After their attempts at small talk continued to result in silence, Melissa thought of a new topic. "So, we're really...twins?" Steven nodded. "Fraternal, but yes, we are." "Ah, I see..." Melissa looked away, taking a sip from her drink. "So um, this place is pretty huge. What exactly do you do here?" Steven chuckled. "Well, it makes sense you wouldn't know. To keep it brief, the laboratory researches demons and angels. Not just research on weapons for the war — but their history, religion, biology, all sorts of things. Despite everything that's going on, Richard has taken a keen interest in them." Melissa listened attentively to her brother until she heard something in his speech. "Wait," she spoke up. "Demons? Angels? A war? What are you talking about, Steven?" "Oh." The realization hit Steven hard. Steven was already coming to terms with how little Melissa remembered, but the fact Melissa did not know about one of the planet's most important aspects disappointed him. As Melissa continued to wait for an answer, a girl approached Steven. She appeared to be slightly older than the both of them, taller than Melissa, and had long dark red hair, which contrasted against her pastel clothing. She softly spoke to Steven. "Uh, Steven? You have a moment?" Steven looked up from his seat. "Oh, Beth? What is it?" he asked. "Just a few network problems after Alchemilia's announcement."